WGGB member Katharine Way (pictured left) is celebrating the fact that the 3000th episode of daytime soap Doctors (The Heart of England) that she wrote has scooped the Best Single Episode Award at the British Soap Awards 2016.
Way, who is also WGGB’s Radio Chair, was there at the ceremony, hosted by Phillip Schofield, on Sunday 29 May 2916 at London’s Hackney Empire.
Doctors: The Heart of England faced tough competition as it was up against a live episode of Coronation Street, in which villain Callum, played by Sean Ward, was murdered, and an episode of Emmerdale which was set in the aftermath of a village hall helicopter crash.
Doctors, a long-running daytime series, now in its 16th year, is set in a busy West Midlands practice in the fictional town of Letherbridge, near Birmingham. The hour-long anniversary special, broadcast in September 2015, saw the biggest ever scene in the show’s history shot in Centenary Square, Birmingham. It included a bhangra band (pictured above), and 200 actors, including extras.
The thrilling, hard-hitting script – which included a sniper on the roof of Birmingham’s Baskerville House – is just one of many written by Katharine Way, who is a regular contributor on the show.
She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that my episode of Doctors won Best Single Episode at the 2016 Soap Awards. This award celebrates the work of the whole team, including me, but Doctors made a point of inviting me to the ceremony, and acknowledging my writing.
“It was a very special episode to get to write… It’s a great show to write for; it gives writers so much creative freedom – effectively the chance to write a single play for a 30-minute slot.
“Doctors is the BBC’s best-kept secret, tucked away in daytime (or of course available on iPlayer). I hope this award means the BBC publicises it a bit more.”
Emmerdale won the Best Soap Award 2016, while EastEnders picked up wins in five categories. Read the full list of winners here.
Read Katharine Way’s full script for Doctors: The Heart of England.
Read Katharine’s account of writing the special episode on the BBC Writersroom website.
Watch The Heart of England trailer.
